Category Archives: All

Question: Do you buy the gold ore that has been processed into coin size pieces? It is gold “mined” by family and friends. I have about 4.1 troy ounces of this 22 kt. Gold. From Virginia in Las Vegas, Nevada

Hi Virginia,

Yes, we do buy gold ore. Do you have any documentation about the purity of your gold ore? If not we would run some tests with our XRF (X-ray fluorescence) equipment to find what the percentage of gold is in your ore.

To get a general estimate of your gold ore I would recommend going to our gold conversion calculator. By plugging in the weight (4.1 troy ounces), purity (22 kt.) and daily gold price ($1,725.90 today) you will get the market value of your gold items. Arch could pay more than 90% of the gold value back to you if you have over 2 ounces of pure gold available from your ore.

Thanks for your question!

*This price may not reflect the current price of silver when this blog entry was posted. The output from the calculator is not a confirmation of the purchase price from Arch Enterprises.

I have 12 pounds of raw silver beads. What are they worth? From Jody in Little Rock, Arkansas

Hi Jody,

First you will need to determine if the raw silver beads you have are 925 sterling silver, meaning 92.5% silver or another concentration? For 925 silver we pay for 75% of the fine silver content by weight. It is very difficult to determine the concentration of raw materials like the ones you describe without the proper testing equipment. If you don’t know the concentration of your silver beads, we can test your material with our analytical equipment. We just need a few of your beads beforehand so you don’t have to send in your full shipment.

If your silver beads are plated silver then we will not be able to offer you a return for them. Without the correct testing equipment it can be difficult to determine the silver concentration of your material. Here is a video showing how we test silver material that comes to our refinery.

Question: What does 555 stamped on a sterling silver tea set mean? From Terry in Chicago, IL

Hi Terry,

Because there are so many different stamps for silver items such as tea sets, serving dishes and silverware, identifying what all these mean can be difficult. You have to consider that silver has been produced for centuries in several different countries. Also, these items are always alloyed with another type of metal, so the trick becomes determining how much actual silver your items contain compared to other non-precious, alloy metals such as copper and nickel.

From our experience as precious metal refiners (not antique dealers or silverware experts) a stamp of “555” does not indicate sterling. Instead we usually look for a “925” to indicate sterling silver. Our best advice would be to do the following:

1. Check if you items are in fact sterling silver. This will probably influence the value of your items the most, especially if you are going to sell to a refiner for the silver value.
2. Check to see if your items have any collectable value or value as antiques. Sometimes pieces can have value beyond the precious metal value.
3. Based on the answers you find in 1 and 2, decide what the right place is to sell your items. As precious metal refiners, we cannot give returns on silverware that is plated.

*Images displayed are only a representation of the items described in this blog post and may not be true images of the items in question.

While we are happy to give estimates on precious metal items, we are NOT antiques dealers, researchers, or retail sellers. As a precious metal refiner, we only consider the weight and amount of precious metal available to extract during the smelting and refining process.

I have 6.9 lbs. of silver oxide batteries from watches. Can you refine this material? From Michael in Islandton, South Carolina

Hi Michael,

Yes, we do have the capabilities to extract silver from silver oxide batteries. Not only can we return a profit to you for the silver, but we also recycle the other potentially environmental harmful materials contained in silver oxide batteries. We pay per pound on silver oxide batteries.

For those of you that don’t know, silver oxide batteries are often referred to as silver zinc, watch batteries or button cell batteries. These are regularly used in products such as, hearing aids, watches, cameras and calculators.

Learn more about our silver oxide battery recycling program on our website.

While we have always refined platinum group metals (PGM’s), we are now officially accepting industrial chemical catalysts for PGM refining.

We have talked to several customers that have worked with unresponsive PGM refiners in the past, waiting up to 23 weeks for their return. Many small businesses cannot wait that long for a return. Our PGM refining services are ideal for customers that have at least 10 ounces or more of PGMs.

Check out the full release about our chemical catalyst refining services.